The British Council and the Art X Company have launched the ‘International Publishing Fellowship 2022: India (IPF2022)’, for publishing professionals in India and the UK. A first-of-its-kind fellowship aimed at facilitating increased dialogue and exchange between the translation publishing ecosystems of both the nations, IPF 2022 will be a year-long programme consisting of reciprocal study trips, featuring masterclasses, networking opportunities, and professional upskilling.
In 2021, British Council commissioned Art X Company to conduct a research study to understand India's trade publishing and literature sectors, identifying opportunities for internationalisation and identifying challenges and issues faced by publishers and other literature organisations from working and collaborating more internationally, specifically with the UK. The 2022 International Publishing Fellowship evolved from the findings of the ‘India Publishing and Literature Sector Study’ authored by the Art X Company and released in December 2021.
The fellowship is a professional development programme where publishers from the UK will be matched with publishers of similar career stage and publishing interests from India. The key activities will include peer-to-peer learning sessions, public sessions with experts, study trips in the UK and India. The fellowship will also offer a development fund at the end of the programme for selected fellows which they can utilise to further work on developing their areas of interest in the translation industry.
The IPF 2022 call for applicants is open till March 20, 2022 and the final list of fellows will be announced in April 2022. Details of the application process and eligibility criteria can be found on the British Council India website,
https://www.britishcouncil.in/programmes/arts/International-Publishing-Fellowship-2022.
Focus on Translation Literature
Designed to address the areas of concern in the translations publishing ecosystem in both the countries as reflected in the study, the fellowship aims to work with both mainstream and niche publishing houses and professionals and is keen to have a cohort that reflects the diversity of the translations community. This edition is looking at building a cohort with commissioning editors, literary agents, owners of micro publishing houses, freelancers and others who have either worked with translations or are keen to build a translations coffer in their publishing house catalogues.
Dipti Rao, director - projects, The Art X Company, said that the IPF 2022 is an exciting opportunity for professionals in the publishing sector, to understand more about international markets, build connections between India and the UK, and develop their skills as professionals in the sector. “The fellowship is designed to respond to the challenges in the Indian sector that have been identified through intensive primary research in 2021, while using deep network knowledge to address the needs in the UK, all with a special focus on translation. The arts are using more data-driven insights to support capacity building and the fellowship programme is a great example of this emerging process of sector development and growth,” he added.
